The Wetterhorn was one of my first scrambles in Colorado, almost ten years ago now. I had not been back to its summit since then. Most of the San Juan 14ers are fairly rugged, except for the ones around Lake City which offer primarily hikes to the summits of relatively gentle peaks. The Wetterhorn is the exception. It is a narrow, jagged peak with a shape that is reminiscent of the Tetons; steep and narrow.

After having climbed and snowboarded/skied the Birthday Chutes on Sneffels the day before, we made our way to Lake City and camped for the evening to make an attempt on the Wetterhorn the next day. We were tired from the day before and crashed out well before the sun was up.

3:30 came early and we stumbled out of tents and drove the last bit of distance to the trailhead in my Blazer. We began hiking up the trail in the early morning dark. The sun rose as we got a little higher and I could see the tip of the Wetterhorn peeking out above Matterhorn Creek.

Unfortunately, we ended up missing the turn off for the trail that goes into Matterhorn Basin, so we bushwacked up. The bushwack was not too bad and decent time was made. Just a little above treeline we hit consistent enough snow to throw on skins and begin to skin. The sun was shining brightly by this point and I was worried that we were too late. We booked it to the base of the the east face.

Fortunately, due to a combination of a solid overnight freeze and a decent breeze to keep the snow surface cool the east face was only just beginning to show the softenings of sun as we clipped on crampons and began the climb up the face.

photo-Ben Jordan skinning towards the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

The east face was initially not as steep as it looked from the valley but as we climbed the upper parts of the face it quickly steepened to 50 degrees. Snow was fairly consistent all the way to the summit block.

photo-Zach Taylor climbing the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Ben Jordan, 2013.

photo- Zach Taylor near the summit block of the Wetterhorn. photo by Ben Jordan, 2013.

photo-Ben Jordan climbing the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

The summit block was devoid of snow. Snow below was softening quickly at this point but we both felt like we could get the summit quickly before things got too slushy. We stashed gear at summit block base and hastily scrambled to the summit.

photo- Ben Jordan scrambling on the summit block of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

photo-Ben Jordan on the summit of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

Ben and I geared up at the base of the summit block. I dropped in first and made a couple turns to give Ben a little more room to get his gear together in the tight space. The snow had corned up perfectly! Ben followed a couple minutes later and we took turns making perfect, corn, jump turns in a spectacular setting. The turns at the top were pretty steep. Enjoy the action shots!

photo-Zach Taylor dropping off the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Ben Jordan, 2013.

photo-Zach Taylor descending the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Ben Jordan, 2013.

photo-Zach Taylor descending the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Ben Jordan, 2013.

photo-Zach Taylor descending the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Ben Jordan, 2013.

photo-Ben Jordan skiing the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

photo-Ben Jordan skiing the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

photo-Ben Jordan skking the lower east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.

The descent was great. We could not have asked for better corn conditions. As we neared the bottom, we heard some people cheering. A group of Lake City locals were out for a hike in the basin and ended up watching us as we descended down the east face. We talked to them a bit and then made our way back down to the trailhead. It had been a great couple days of riding. The Birthday Chutes on Sneffels and now the east face of the Wetterhorn. Ben took off to head back to the Front Range and I drove to the Elk range to meet up with Andy for the next leg of my spring adventures...

photo-Zach Taylor and Ben Jordan at the base of the east face of the Wetterhorn. photo by Zach Taylor, 2013.